Lever 1: Perceived Value
In order to better explain motivation, I want you to consider something that you really really hate having to do. I’m going to use compliance training as an example throughout, but you can replace it with any other activity that you just lack the motivation to accomplish. As an employee at my organization, there are annual, semi-annual, whenever trainings that I have to do so that my employer can say that everyone received that training. My perception of the value of this training for me is pretty close to zero. I did the training last year. I still remember the training. This is the same training. It takes a really long time. It’s really boring.
There are two types of perceived value: intrinsic and instrumental. Intrinsic value is the idea that the activity is enjoyable in and of itself. Maybe you’re one of those lucky people who enjoys exercising. Waking up early to exercise is fine because you like to do it. But for a lot of us, that just isn’t the case. But exercise has instrumental value. I may not enjoy it, but I know it’s good for me. There’s utility in this activity; it will help me in some way.
Compliance training? No intrinsic value there. And instrumental value? Pretty low there too. I don’t see why I have to do it when I’ve already done it. How could we improve this? For intrinsic value, maybe we could revamp the videos to be a little more engaging. Maybe we could make a game of seeing which department could finish first or every department that does could get some kind of small reward. Or maybe we could increase the instrumental value by saying, “Hey, we know this is rough, but we have to do it in order to maintain our accreditation and keep the doors open. If you like having a job, you’ll need to do this.” Ok, ok, fine. I see the point now…
What does this look like in the classroom? For some of us this is easier than others. If you are one of the lucky people reading this who teaches personal finance, you’re all set. Instrumental value is high. But for those of you like me who teach statistics (or the recorder if you pay attention to memes), we have a little work to do. My recommendation is to focus more on the instrumental than the intrinsic motivation here. Make it clear to students that there is purpose to their learning. How will they use this later in life? What foundation is this laying for them? Why do they need to take your class? This is not to say you shouldn’t try to make class enjoyable, but not at the expense of the content itself. If I really wanted stats to be fun, we might not do much stats in class. Instead I might tell some lame stats jokes, use appropriate scaffolding so that it’s not too painful, and use everyday examples so they have something to connect to. There’s benefit to those things, so long as they don’t become seductive details.
Lever 2: Autonomy
No one likes being told what to do. Autonomy is all about providing choice. This isn’t necessarily choice in “whether or not” Johnny has to engage in class, but feeling like I’m not being forced to comply in this exact way feels… good. Autonomy is also about perception. Sometimes we have more autonomy than we realize.
